Arctic Monkeys and One Direction were double winners at the 2014 BRIT Awards on Wednesday night. After opening the ceremony with a fiery performance of their hit RU Mine?, the British rockers took home the trophy for Best British Group, joking that they had lost money by betting on category rivals One Direction to win. The band also took the stage to accept the coveted Best British Album award for AM, which beat off releases by Rudimental, David Bowie and Disclosure, and frontman Alex Turner delivered a poetic acceptance speech about the resurgence of rock music. He told the audience at London’s O2 Arena, “That rock and roll just won’t go away. It might hibernate from time to time… but it’s always waiting there, just around the corner, ready to make its way back through the sludge and smash back through the glass ceiling, looking better than ever. That rock and rock, it seems like it’s faded away sometimes but it will never die. And there’s nothing you can do about it.” The band has now won the British Group award three times. One Direction also took a pair of honours, claiming the Global Success Award for the second year in a row, and picking up the Best Video trophy after winning a live Twitter.com fan vote by a landslide. An emotional Ellie Goulding kicked off the prize list at the top of the show, when she was handed the award for Best British Female by pop superstar Prince. The win ended years of disappointment since her last BRIT – a Critics’ Choice award in 2009. David Bowie was handed the prize for Best British Male, a prize he last won in 1984, but he did not attend in person, and asked model pal Kate Moss to collect his award, dressed in one of his old stage costumes. Bruno Mars was named Best International Male for the second time, having previously scooped the gong in 2012, while 17-year-old New Zealander Lorde continued her amazing 2014 by winning International Female, Daft Punk were handed the International Group award, and Bastille were shocked to take home the British Breakthrough Act prize, beating brotherly duo Disclosure, who went home empty handed despite being nominated for four awards. Live performances came from Katy Perry, who strutted the stage as a day-glo Egyptian queen, Bruno Mars, who bounced around the stage while he performed Treasure, Ellie Goulding and Beyonce, who performed her track XO live on TV for the first time. It was also a night for onstage collaborations as Lorde and AlunaGeorge singer Aluna Francis teamed up with Disclosure to play a mash-up of their respective hits Royals and White Noise, and Rudimental were joined on stage by Bastille. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers closed the show with a medley of Daft Punk’s hit Get Lucky and Williams’ No. 1 Happy. The full list of winners is as follows: British Female Solo Artist: Ellie Goulding British Group: Arctic Monkeys British Breakthrough Act: Bastille British Male Solo Artist: David Bowie International Female Solo Artist: Lorde Best British Video: One Direction – Best Song Ever British Single: Rudimental featuring Ella Eyre – Waiting All Night International Group: Daft Punk International Male Solo Artist: Bruno Mars British Album: Arctic Monkeys – AM Special Recognition Award: War Child UK Critics’ Choice Award: Sam Smith Global Success Award: One Direction British Producer Of The Year: Flood & Alan Moulder